Raging Bitch on cask at ChurchKey

I’ve talked about Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch before. When Flying Dog released it as their 20th Anniversary beer in 2010 it was one of those beers you taste and realize is a special beer. Apparently I wasn’t the only one because it was one of the most popular craft beers of the year and Flying Dog decided to make it not only every year but all year. I’ve had it on cask once or twice before but try not to miss it when I can get it. It wasn’t my favorite beer on this night though.

I started off with a full serving of the Witch Doctor on cask from Oskar Blues. It is a blend of their Dale’s Pale Ale and Ten FIDY dry hopped with centennial hops. It comes in at 8.5%. It had that familiar Oskar Blues taste. I forgot the Ten FIDY was the stout but it had a nice balanced taste.

Next was the Stillwater Harvest Saison. This might have been my favorite beer of the night. Saisons aren’t my favorite style but this had the fresh hop taste along with the typical yeast flavors. The description said... "Brewed with East Kent Goldings, Summit & Wet Citra Hops; Matured on Spanish Cedar; Dry-Hopped". It was 6.8%. I only had the 4oz of this but could have easily drank a full serving.

I also got a tasting size of the Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head collaboration Life & Limb. This came in at a nice 10.2% but I couldn’t taste the complexity in the beer on this occasion for some reason. I could just barely pick up the maple syrup.

They were out of the Harpoon 100 Barrel Series Session 38: Docesna - Czech Hop Harvest Ale. I was disappointed. So finally I had the Raging Bitch on cask in a full serving. It was good but not the explosion of flavors I was expecting. I thought I detected a metallic taste or something foreign but I quickly forget it at this state in the game.

the making of Freddie's Revenge

I wanted to end with a tasting size of the 120 Minute IPA but they ran out of that as well. So I ended with a Freddie's Revenge on cask from Pratt St. Ale House in Baltimore. It is a pumpkin ale brewed w/ roasted pumpkin, spiced with cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and clove. I’ve had some unexpectedly tasty pumpkin beers this year. Unexpected because I’m traditionally not a pumpkin beer fan. I don’t like all the spice; similar to the x-mas beers. But this year there was more to the offering and some interesting flavors. Some were like eating pumpkin pie with whipped cream. So many craft breweries doing so much good stuff these days.

I had the potato croquettes just like last time. They are yummy. And the pasta special again which was fettucini with pork belly. It was pretty good. I got a good deal on the bill and didn’t get charged for any of the small servings. Similar to what happened to me earlier in the weekend at my other favorite establishment. My good looks I guess.

MMW

I haven’t seen MMW in awhile. I find it kinda crazy that I can’t find them mentioned in my blog anywhere. I guess it has been a long while. They came on a Thursday and were playing with Antibalas which I guess is a band familiar to them. They did an odd DC, Philly, NYC run together. Odd in that it was not your usual MMW show. I’ve been hesitant in the second half of MMW’s career to go to their shows as they are a bit more avant-garde jazz then I like but this was a great performance that I enjoyed.

Port City Brewery tweeted that day that the 9:30 Club would have their Essential Pale Ale on tap. I replied that I’ll be partaking.

Teri was not having a good day at work so I invited her along to cheer her up and forget about the craziness going on during the work day. We walked in after the opening band stopped and got a spot up front. Before too long MMW came out and did their thing. I wasn’t sure what they were going to play but I ended up recognizing all the songs. They were getting down to all their old classics. Teri mentioned how they were not the easiest band to dance to with their style of play. They would play traditional timing but John Medeski would often play off beat which throws people off. The reason I recognized the whole first set except for one song was because they were all requests. I remembered them asking for requests on Twitter awhile back. They said they usually don’t take requests; usually they jam whatever new stuff they are working on. We were right in front of Medeski for the first set. I could see he took the lead; at least in those old school songs. I wish I could see his hands on the keys as he was all over the place. I could smell a lot more food than usual this show and some guy actually brought a couple sandwiches up to the front row and ate them off the stage.

During the set break I switched up the beer and got a draft of the DC Brau Public. I usually don’t get draft at the 9:30 Club because the open cups spill all over the place in the packed floor compared to bottles. During the set break though it was open and I wanted to change it up. The DC Brau Public was so much more flavorable than the Port City Essential Pale Ale. I’m curious why. I’m sure they were both fresh being local. I doubt the bottle vs draft had anything to do with it. The Public was definitely more of the flavorable hop taste that I am looking for. We stuck with that the rest of the night.

Antibalas came out with MMW for the whole second set. Teri and I missed their opening set so we didn’t know what to expect. The 9:30 Club stage is not small but I didn’t realize you could fit this many people on stage. Fifteen all together. Two bass players, two keyboard players, two drummers, multiple people playing percussion, guitar, and a four piece horn section. It was great. They played MMW style jams but with the Antibalas sound since they out numbered MMW 12 to 3. It was fun. I’d like to see MMW with just the horn section. I’m not sure if DC was the first show of the tour or not. I saw a tweet earlier in the week about rehearsal. It was definitely unique for a MMW show and I really enjoyed it.

NoVA Brewfest

I didn’t go to the NoVa Brewfest out in Bull Run Park (next to Manassas National Battlefield Park) in the previous four years because I hadn’t heard anything special about the event. In the past the list of breweries was nothing to write home about but it has gotten bigger each year. And it was out in the ‘burbs. Also their method of distributing beer has changed over time for the better I think. It was ticket based as always this year although you could buy as many extra tickets as you wanted for only $1. Mark asked if I wanted to hit it up this time so I decided to check it out.

It ended up being a decent group of us including Mark, Michelle, Scott, Jen, Teri, Marc, and another couple that Mark knew. Marc from Pburg only lives about 2 miles from Scott but I had to pick him up since Scott wasn’t able to find him on the map. Teri and I filled our bellies at District Taco before getting stuck on I-66 and downtown Fairfax. Traffic was not fun at noon on Saturday. It was a nice day although cloudy. The leaves are getting to that perfect stage when changing colors. Most of us got tickets online in advance for $20 which was $10 off the gate price. I found out LivingSocial had a deal and sold over 1300 so that added to my fears of long lines. Especially after Oktoberfest in Shirlington. The website said the event will not sell out. How can an event not sell out?

The taxi van picked us up at Mark and Michelle’s at 1:45. The driver took some back way. It turns out it would take a lot of people to sell the event out. It was a big open area with some rolling hills. Tons of parking, a huge stage and crowd area, although the two rows of booths were sorta full. We got right through the entrance. There was plenty of room and most beer lines were short. Some food and bathroom lines got long. Teri and I found a secret port-o-potty behind the stage that was accessible but it got less and less secret as the day went on. Also as the day went on I think the volunteers were less and less worried about taking our tickets. People were more strict than the Shirlington Ocktoberfest but after awhile I seemed to be getting away with it more and more. Later while in line someone handed Teri and I a bunch of tickets so we were set. The kettle corn was pretty good. They had a HUGE “kettle” over a gas flame and would mix popcorn and oil in it with a large wooden stirrer. After awhile it would all pop at once and he’d dump it via hinges in another big container. Hot and fresh. There was also bratwurst wrapped in a pretzel but I didn't get to try one of those delights.

We all stuck together for the most part and everyone had a good time. Mad Fox had their Pumpkinator as well as the new brewer at Vintage 50. It was her first brew on that equipment with the help of Bill. Teri talked to her for a minute and unfortunately I never made it back to try her version that she was tapping at 3:00. Schafly had their pumpkin beer and it was just as good as I remembered. They had other vendors and craft booths including wooden croaking frogs. The had different sizes for different sounds and when you rubbed the wooden mallet over their backs they made a rather realistic croaking sound. The people at the booth were jamin’ to the band with the frogs. I’d never spend money on it though. When is there a band in the background to jam to?

The taxi guy came back with just a car so he had to wrangle with another taxi driver on site to get us all back. Marc used him to get home from Mark’s and called to complain afterwards that they guy ripped him off. For some reason I slowed down once we got back but a few of those I was hanging out with were rather toasted. It was a fun day hanging out with everyone outside and being hosted by Mark and Michelle that evening. The brewfest surpassed my expectations. It helps when you have friends that live close by. It is a twice a year event so we’ll see what happens next year.

biking, Chilean mine exhibit, and ChurchKey

It was a nice day so I had to take advantage and get outside. I saw online that the Natural History Museum had an exhibit about the Chilean miners who were trapped and finally rescued. So I decided to ride down and check out that exhibit, ride past the new MLK memorial, and then up to ChurckKey for some new beers they had on tap.

I got to the museum around 4:00 about an hour before it closed. I hadn’t been there in awhile and the first floor ocean exhibit was new to me. The little special exhibit I was going to was in the geology section near the Hope diamond. I finally found it after checking out some other cool exhibits. It was interesting and laid out the geology of the area and how they mine the copper. There was a timeline of their time underground and a map of the mine. It showed how deep down they were and the three escape mines they drilled. The actual capsule used to bring the miners up was on display along with other artifacts donated by the miners. It was interesting to see the conditions they had to survive in. A video was playing of the rescue. Emotional stuff.

I walked around a bit more and checked out the Hope diamond and other gems. One of the coolest artifacts was molten rock that was in the shape of a projectile after it cooled and hardened while flying through the air.

It was getting dark so I didn’t ride over to the MLK memorial. I was also worried about getting a spot at ChurchKey. Sure enough when I walked in I got one of the last spots at the bar. I sampled a nice line up of beers while there. All the small 4 oz tasting size of course:

• Sierra Nevada Estate Homegrown Harvest Ale (w/ Sierra Nevada grown organic barley & wet organic cascade, chinook & citra hops)
• Sierra Nevada Northern Hemisphere Harvest Ale (w/ fresh Yakima Valley cascade & centennial hops)
• Black Diamond Black Harvest Ale (w/ fresh organic hops)
• Ayinger Weisse
• DC Brau El Hefe Speaks!
• DC Brau The Public on cask with summit hops
• DC Brau The Public on cask with amarillo hops
• Brooklyn The Companion (55% wheat malt & 45% floor-malted barley malt)
• Flying Dog Wild Dog: The Fear (w/ pumpkin, squash, chocolate malt, spiced w/ cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg & clove)

Of course I had some food with this. I like their fully loaded potato croquettes with broccoli sour cream. I also had their pasta special which was very good. Don’t ask me to describe it now. I finished with their awesome arancini balls but I was getting full by then and it was hard to get the last one down.

After the ride home the Caps were playing so I watched that. Then at 2am it was time for the Formula One race live in Korea. I haven’t watched an F1 race live in awhile (timing being a big reason). It was nice to have the live lap times and twitter updates as the race was going on. That provides so much more information you otherwise wouldn’t get. I could only stay up for half of it and slept late of course.

G Love & Special Sauce

I wasn’t sure how popular the show would be and if I should get tickets beforehand or not. They were still on sale the day of so I decided to do what I’ve done in the past and go to the venue, get tickets, then go eat before heading back right when the band starts. This way you avoid the outrageous online fees and get tickets before most people show up. I did the smart thing though and called the venue to see what is up. They have given me info in the past on how many tickets are left and if it will sell out. She said it will sell out. So I went ahead and bought tickets online. This was already about 7:45 the night of a show that was scheduled to start at 8:00. I was able to get the tix though and have them waiting for me at will call. The band we wanted to see wasn’t going on stage until 10:30.

I have never seen them before even though I was listening to them back in in the 90’s. They have a cool funk groove rap thing. The bass player was playing a stand up bass with a metal body. I’m not sure how that works. It was interesting. They had some new beers at the 9:30 Club such as DC Brau. You can always count on the 9:30 Club to have a good selection. Teri and I squeezed in from the left as I usually do. The place was packed. And it was an interesting mix of people. Lots of folks my age but younger as well. It didn’t appear as if many of them were hardcore fans. Not many sang along even on their old school popular songs. Some did though. It was fun and the crowd was in to it. They played for more than an hour on the first and only set. The encore was almost as long though. He came out solo, then played with an old friend from the area who sang “Before You Accuse Me”, then the opening band joined.

It was a fun and entertaining show. Creative funky grooves to get down to.

Trey

It had been a long time coming because I got tickets back during the pre-sale. Thankfully. I don’t think it was possible to get tickets during the public sale because they went too fast. Although in front of the venue before the show there were tons of tickets for sale. And it was a brand new venue: The Fillmore Silver Spring. I think I’ve been in Silver Spring less than five times.

Teri and I met up in Silver Spring before the show. Thankfully it wasn’t raining. Being right on the metro was convenient. We passed Ray’s The Classic’s on the way. They made us empty our pockets and pull out our pocket lining to get inside the venue. Once in we were able to get a beer and a decent spot for the first set. Their beer selection was pretty bad. But I was surprised how easy it was to get a beer and a decent spot up front at a sold out show. It turns out we were lucky. It got packed as the show got on and I heard Primus a couple weeks before was packed.

We got all settled right before 8:00 and the band came on shortly after. The bass player was sitting down and I assumed he had his bass sitting on his chair or leg because it didn’t seem to move until I realized it was on a stand. Teri said that was cheating. The keyboard player seemed to fit in with the same old school session player theme and the drummer wasn’t far off. They were all very good. Trey also had a horn section which I always enjoy. There was a guy playing sax, a redheaded female trombone player, and a diva trumpet player who sang. The trumpet player tried to do some leading of the horn section and band but I noticed her mess up numerous times on the same song. She would try to signal when an upcoming change was and got it wrong about four times. After the song Trey came over and chatted with her while smiling. Later she did some vocals and belted out Black Dog. Even doing some back and forth with Trey during the solo.

During the second set we hung out upstairs for awhile. Downstairs was too packed after we waited forever at the upstairs bar. After waiting for awhile the hot female bartender who can’t tend a bar told me they were out of the beer I requested. I politely informed her that the other keg 10 feet away was still flowing strong. She said she couldn’t serve me from that keg. My mouth opened and I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know how to respond. The keg was right there and the one other bartender was not using it. I eventually said something. “We are trying to be efficient.” she replied. I couldn’t believe it. I had just stood there for about 10 minutes waiting my turn to be served. I looked over at the other line and assumed it would be at least another 10 minutes to get through that. So I complained again. Teri in the mean time was inching her way closer to being served by the other bartender. This allowed me to continue to harass the incompetent server on my side of the bar. If they had one other acceptable beer I might have had another option. She also had the nerve to tell me I was standing in “no man’s land” while waiting to be served around a huge bar that was surrounded with people doing the same thing. She seem a little overwhelmed and the bar wasn’t as busy as it could have been. We did not revisit that bar.

We found a decent spot in the balcony that was directly to the side of the stage. I was very tempted to sneak back stage. The girl watching the walkway was paying lots of attention to the band and we were almost standing directly behind her in a way that would have allowed us to just slip through. But after hanging out in the balcony for half the set it opened up downstairs. We headed down and were able to move in relatively close to the stage. The second set rocked out just like the first. It was cool to get so close to Trey and the band. It reminded me of the mid-90’s when Phish played smaller venues.

The metro ride is only a minute or two longer than the trip to the 9:30 Club. Another great venue I don’t have to drive to which is excellent. It felt like I hadn’t been to a concert in awhile. It was a great show. And we have another tomorrow night.


Set One:
    In the Wee Wee Hours
    Gotta Jibboo
    Alive Again
    The Devil Went Down to Georgia
    Money, Love and Change
    Burn That Bridge
    Burlap Sack and Pumps
    Push On 'Til the Day
    Alaska
    Tuesday
    Black Dog

Set Two:
    Sand
    Valentine
    Drifting
    Simple Twist Up Dave
    Liquid Time
    Pigtail
    Mr. Completely
    Ether Sunday
    Magilla
    Night Speaks to a Woman
    First Tube

Encore:
    Clint Eastwood
    Heavy Things
    Sultans of Swing

DC Brau at ChurchKey

DC Brau, the first brewery in DC since prohibition, had a beer dinner at Birch & Barley along with special beers on tap up in ChurchKey. As I’ve said before, twice, I’m not a big fan of their beer dinners even though the place has excellent food and the best beer in town. But I did want to go try the DC Brau beers. It was Columbus Day so no work for me and the feds. After going on a bike ride during the day I met Sharon at the metro around 5:30. It was another great fall day. I’m beginning to think October is the best month of the year in DC. I wasn’t sure if the place was going to be empty or have a line out the door for this event. I figured it could have gone either way. These new local breweries have had a great outpouring of support. It turns out the place was rather empty.

I saw the DC Brau owners/brewers hanging out around the bar. We started off with three tasting size servings of The Public on cask each with a different type of hop: amarillo, citra, and summit. The Public is their pale ale. I think our preference was citra, amarillo, then summit. After that we tried their Helles Lagaer which was lagered for five weeks and hopped with US perle hops. Quite tasty. Next up was another local beer from up in Maryland the Flying Dog Wild Dog: Secret Stash ‘11. It is brewed with red wheat, sweet corn, potatoes, honey and fresh local cascade & chinook hops. It was only 5.5% which is low for a special beer but I wasn’t complaining. I thought it was a bit too carbonated though. Finally we had the DC Brau Citizen on cask and matured four months in Catoctin Creek Rye Whiskey Oak Barrels. The Citizen is the DC Brau Belgium pale ale. You could taste the whiskey from the barrels. I’m not in to whiskey beers usually.

We had one of their new flatbread pizzas with peppers and sausage and it was pretty good. Which isn’t surprising because that is what I normally get on my zzza’s. Not a bad Monday.

Capital City Oktoberfest in Shirlington

Sharon and I hit up the Capital City Oktoberfest in Shirlington. Holy cow talk about arriving at the wrong time. The word was to get there early. The event was from noon to 7:00. So getting there around 1:30 or so should have been good right? Hell no! Everyone showed up at that time. It took nearly an hour to find a spot to park and over another hour to get through the line. Worst timing ever. But once in it was a good event. Space is an issue but nothing they can really do about that in their location.

There have been great beers the last few years as the event has gotten bigger. This year the pumpkin beers were the hot item I think. Mad Fox was selling the last of their’s. Schafly might have been the most popular. I had heard about this one and wanted to grab it. I think I got the second to last one of the day! It was very much the type that tasted like pumpkin pie. The Starr Hill seasonal called Boxcar might have been my favorite. I've had it before but I think it was warming up at the booth today and I got it at the perfect temp to taste the complexity. Great beer. I was able to talk to one of the Starr Hill brewers. He said it was made with canned puree as opposed to Mad Fox's which is made with fresh pumpkins. He also said it was supposed to be a chili porter but that tasted horrible so they made it a pumpkin porter. Again, it was my favorite of the day by far. I recognized the owner of DC Brau and said hi to him. I also saw Bill from Port City for the first time. All the new local breweries were in attendance and I saw most of them had brewery reps if not the owners on site which was great. As usual beer tickets weren't a problem because most places weren't even collecting them. Sharon had only 2 and a half servings before she was feeling it and passed all her tickets on to me. The weather was perfect. A great fall day.

Got the Caps season opener tonight, the Bathurst 1000 race in Australia, Robert Randolf at 9:30 Club, and the Japanese Grand Prix at 2am this evening. What to do?